Pssst! Want to Know Top Insider Fitness Trends and Quotes?

Looking Into the Future

Do you like to stay ahead of the curve? I mean besides the ones on our baby boomer, midlife bodies?  Then hold tight as we zoom through some of the key takeaways and quotables from the recent IDEA World Fitness Convention.  Alexandra and I just returned from the main industry event that draws fitness professionals from around the globe. By attending many sessions focused on the over fifty crowd (Wheee! that’s most of us), I gleaned some relevant Fun Fit Facts, exercise trends, and plain ole’ good quotes.

Now to lay some of those fitness pro insights on you, so you can revel in the workout fun that lies ahead. Or more specifically, get your trending fitness quotes now while they’re hot!

1. From IDEA CEO and co-founder, Peter Davis: “ The future of our industry lies in survival of the wisest, not the fittest.”  I already like the tone he is setting at the welcome ceremony! Wise up masses! Or is that Rise Up? Heck, let’s do both.
2. Jack la Lanne Inspiration Award recipient, Jenna Wolfe paraphrased the Jackmaster who used to whip crowds into action by telling us that “the only way to hurt your body is not to use it.”  Do you agree? We do. So get out there and be a big user!
3. Next keynote speaker, Brendon Burchard took us for a twist and turn by stating that “we don’t HAVE energy; we GENERATE it.” Well pick me up and slap me down as I had to think about this one, having always thought I HAD the Big E! But Brendon’s point is well taken. Who’s with me to transform into an energy generator? Let’s call ourselves “Energeners.” Good, eh?
4. From there, I power walked it over to the “Posture Improvement Workshop” led by Sarah Zahab, who had a lot of letters after her name AND loads of good posture assessments. She rightly reminded us that “even strength training 2-3 times a week, for 30-60 minutes per session won’t compete with 14 hours a day of poor posture.” Oops, was I slouching when I took that note? If you desire better stance, take a look at our posture series on making your mama proud by standing tall!

5. Stand Tall, Lie Long with friend and fitness pro, Meg

   Speaking of standing up, presenter Tomi Toles asked attendees at his “Walking Tall” session: “What muscles and structures do we walk from?” Most of us fell right into his trap — “Why, we walk from the legs, doncha know.” Wrong! After watching a video of a man with no legs “walk” on his ischial tuberosities (google it), we could see that great gait really comes from the abdominal wall muscles and spine. Want to be a better walker AND tone your abs at the same time? Check out our post on achieving great gait.

6. Wrapping up Day One was Functional Aging Institute Co-founder, Cody Sipe, PhD. (Click this link to find out why My Main Man Cody told the whole room that everyone was to try to answer a certain question about Functional Aging activities, except Ms. Kymberly).  Uh, yeah, it’s cuz he knew that I already knew the answer as a recently certified Functional Aging Specialist.

   Dr Cody Sipe bringing us the POWAH

7. Anyway, Cody grabbed us with a bold statement that “For people older than 50, POWER training may be the most important component of our exercise program. More important than strength training and cardio is the need to train for power, defined as the ability to move a load quickly.” We are not messing around here, fellow baby boomers. Time to add a little speed to our hop, skip, and jump. Did you know that with age (and lack of power training), we lose power even more than we lose strength? And with that we proceeded to learn a whole lotta cool exercises just right for our achy joints that brought back DA POWAH!

Come to my group fitness classes and look for our upcoming package of moves for “Fitness Over 50” if you want to try what we learned.

And that is it for quotes that “Inspire, Connect, and Transform” from the first day at IDEA. Subscribe, open your emails from us, and keep reading if you wonder how Day Two and Three managed to surpass the quality that was Day One. Coming soon to a blog near you. Near and dear, we hope.

Celebrating Our Past, Planning Our Future

By Kymberly Williams-Evans, MA

Readers: Which is your favorite fitness quote? One of the above? One to share from elsewhere?  Let us know in the comments below.